Flat Rock: The village that roared

Published: Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 14, 2012 at 5:37 p.m.

The Flat Rock Village Council was both generous and wise to give the Flat Rock Playhouse $100,000, provided the money is used to pay off debt that threatens the theater's future.

Council voted unanimously Thursday to give the struggling theater a “one-time emergency donation” to pay down its short-term debt. In doing so, it fully matched a $100,000 challenge grant the Playhouse received Tuesday from an anonymous donor.

Council members and the anonymous donor both recognized the value of the Playhouse as a major business and tourism draw for the village and Henderson County. Village leaders were smart to attach stipulations that will prod the Playhouse toward a return to solvency.

The village's gift is contingent upon Playhouse trustees confirming they have “succeeded in initiatives required to plan and execute a 2013 season.” That happened Tuesday when Playhouse leaders announced the theater had met its immediate goal of raising $250,000. At the same news conference, they gave the green light for the 2013 season, while scaling back the number of productions planned from 18 to 13.

Another smart stipulation: Flat Rock made its gift contingent upon theater trustees working with United Community Bank to “identify the most effective use of the contribution (to reduce debt). To underscore that fact, the village's check was made out to both the theater and the bank.

The Playhouse should use the money to pay off short-term notes that total $104,000, due in December and February. Those loans, borrowed to help the Playhouse cover immediate expenses, are part of a total of $2.54 million the theater owes the bank.

Flat Rock has as great a stake in its namesake theater as any community. Village leaders deserve a “bravo” for recognizing this fact by giving this significant gift, with strings attached and no promise of an “encore.”

An institution in Henderson County for 60 years, the Playhouse is too important to be allowed to slide into oblivion. It's up to theater leaders to see that these generous gifts are used efficiently to return the theater to solid financial footing.

Farce on ICE

A lengthy hearing the Hendersonville Board of Adjustment held Tuesday to consider the fate of the proposed federal ICE building at times rivaled a Monte Python sketch in comic absurdity. The question under debate: When is a prisoner holding room an “office”?

The city withheld a certificate of occupancy for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to occupy the former dentist office at the corner of Sixth and Justice. That came after neighbors, including Pardee Hospital and the Elk's Lodge, alerted local officials that the building was to be used for more than office space as the feds had let on. The first clue: an 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.

When city inspectors went inside the newly renovated building in May, they found a room obviously outfitted to hold detainees, despite insistence from the feds and the developer that the facility was for office use only. Using the building to process prisoners does not comply with the property's current zoning and was not outlined in the original site plan, city officials say.

At a 2½ -hour hearing Tuesday, attorneys for developer Wise Development LLC and the city faced off over the question of whether the facility will be used to process detainees. Dean Bray III, managing member of Wise Development, testified the fence was to “keep people out to protect vehicles” that could be parked at the facility overnight. But then attorney Sharon Alexander for Pardee handed out photos showing the wire atop the fence was angled inward rather than outward.

While the fence doesn't violate city ordinances, uses not specifically noted in city zoning are prohibited, Zoning Administrator Susan Frady said. In their visit, city inspectors noted the processing room had a steel counter bolted to the floor along with a bar for prisoner's leg irons, an adjoining bathroom with no door, and a steel sink and toilet bolted to the floor. The kicker: The toilet had no seat.

This sounds like an “office” right out of “Cool Hand Luke.” The Board of Adjustment should deny the appeal at its Jan. 8 meeting unless the plans are modified to fit city zoning.

<p>The Flat Rock Village Council was both generous and wise to give the Flat Rock Playhouse $100,000, provided the money is used to pay off debt that threatens the theater's future.</p><p>Council voted unanimously Thursday to give the struggling theater a “one-time emergency donation” to pay down its short-term debt. In doing so, it fully matched a $100,000 challenge grant the Playhouse received Tuesday from an anonymous donor.</p><p>Council members and the anonymous donor both recognized the value of the Playhouse as a major business and tourism draw for the village and Henderson County. Village leaders were smart to attach stipulations that will prod the Playhouse toward a return to solvency.</p><p>The village's gift is contingent upon Playhouse trustees confirming they have “succeeded in initiatives required to plan and execute a 2013 season.” That happened Tuesday when Playhouse leaders announced the theater had met its immediate goal of raising $250,000. At the same news conference, they gave the green light for the 2013 season, while scaling back the number of productions planned from 18 to 13.</p><p>Another smart stipulation: Flat Rock made its gift contingent upon theater trustees working with United Community Bank to “identify the most effective use of the contribution (to reduce debt). To underscore that fact, the village's check was made out to both the theater and the bank.</p><p>The Playhouse should use the money to pay off short-term notes that total $104,000, due in December and February. Those loans, borrowed to help the Playhouse cover immediate expenses, are part of a total of $2.54 million the theater owes the bank.</p><p>Flat Rock has as great a stake in its namesake theater as any community. Village leaders deserve a “bravo” for recognizing this fact by giving this significant gift, with strings attached and no promise of an “encore.”</p><p>An institution in Henderson County for 60 years, the Playhouse is too important to be allowed to slide into oblivion. It's up to theater leaders to see that these generous gifts are used efficiently to return the theater to solid financial footing.</p><h3>Farce on ICE</h3>
<p>A lengthy hearing the Hendersonville Board of Adjustment held Tuesday to consider the fate of the proposed federal ICE building at times rivaled a Monte Python sketch in comic absurdity. The question under debate: When is a prisoner holding room an “office”?</p><p>The city withheld a certificate of occupancy for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to occupy the former dentist office at the corner of Sixth and Justice. That came after neighbors, including Pardee Hospital and the Elk's Lodge, alerted local officials that the building was to be used for more than office space as the feds had let on. The first clue: an 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.</p><p>When city inspectors went inside the newly renovated building in May, they found a room obviously outfitted to hold detainees, despite insistence from the feds and the developer that the facility was for office use only. Using the building to process prisoners does not comply with the property's current zoning and was not outlined in the original site plan, city officials say.</p><p>At a 2½ -hour hearing Tuesday, attorneys for developer Wise Development LLC and the city faced off over the question of whether the facility will be used to process detainees. Dean Bray III, managing member of Wise Development, testified the fence was to “keep people out to protect vehicles” that could be parked at the facility overnight. But then attorney Sharon Alexander for Pardee handed out photos showing the wire atop the fence was angled inward rather than outward.</p><p>While the fence doesn't violate city ordinances, uses not specifically noted in city zoning are prohibited, Zoning Administrator Susan Frady said. In their visit, city inspectors noted the processing room had a steel counter bolted to the floor along with a bar for prisoner's leg irons, an adjoining bathroom with no door, and a steel sink and toilet bolted to the floor. The kicker: The toilet had no seat.</p><p>This sounds like an “office” right out of “Cool Hand Luke.” The Board of Adjustment should deny the appeal at its Jan. 8 meeting unless the plans are modified to fit city zoning.</p>